Posted on 08/21/2002 3:58:43 PM PDT by Glutton
National organizers of a militant animal-rights group yesterday lauded the tactics that landed two Hub members in jail as their local cohorts were slapped with grand jury subpoenas.
Authorities say Lisa Lotts, 23, and Ryan Kleinert, 17, were behind a four-month terror campaign on a Back Bay man and at least two other employees of an insurance firm the group claims has ties to a lab that does animal testing.
``Our goal is to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences. We won't stop until we do,'' said Kevin Jonas, a leader of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, a group dedicated to shutting down HLS, a company in England and New Jersey that does drug testing on animals.
SHAC formed in England three years ago after undercover footage showed a firm's employee punching a beagle and lab technicians slitting open a live monkey. Members car-bombed, beat up and made death threats to British employees before launching their radical campaign in the United States, authorities said.
The group, which is being closely watched by the FBI, targets any entity with alleged HLS ties. SHAC believes Marsh, an international broker with a Boston office, sold insurance to HLS. Marsh officials won't comment on whether HLS is a client.
``We're pleased that law enforcement agencies are dealing with these harassing and unlawful actions,'' a company spokesperson said yesterday.
Marsh employees nationwide are being harassed, including at least three in the Bay State, authorities said.
Lotts and Kleinert were part of a ``campaign of fear and intimidation'' on Robert Harper Jr., a mid-level manager at Marsh, prosecutors said.
The duo and a slew of other members threatened to burn down his home, chanted outside his house at all hours and said they wouldn't stop until he quit Marsh.
In Millis, the company pays for a 24-hour police detail at the home of another targeted employee.
Jonas said individuals are sought out because members aren't going to ``waste'' their time shouting at an office building.
``We want to isolate and put pressure on those individuals within the company that are important in the decision-making process and hopefully affect change that way,'' Jonas said.
Jonas said Hub SHAC membership has been steadily growing over the past few months. Nationwide, there are about 2,000 members, he said.
Another SHAC leader, Angela Jackson, said at least three Hub activists have been subpoenaed.
Lotts and Kleinert live in a basement commune in Allston strewn with posters of tortured animals.
Neighbors said the ``quiet'' group was recently looking for a non-smoking vegan roommate.
L
Doesn’t that statement, along with their past actions, constitute extortion? And since there are several people involved, does that not constitute a conspiracy?
Somebody needs to lean on the local PD and DA. They can also enforce whatever state/local stalking laws they have while they are at it.
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